Uganda imports Chinese hybrid goats to boost livestock industry

________________

Nine Chinese hybrid goats, also known as Jianzhou big-eared goats, have been delivered in Uganda as the country seeks to boost its goat meat production and livestock industry.

The goats from Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, which include six females, were delivered at Entebbe International Airport on Monday.

The herd was later moved to the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre & Data Bank (NAGRC&DB), a few kilometres from the airport.

Agricultural officials and experts inspect newly imported Jianzhou big-eared goats at the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre & Data Bank (NAGRC&DB) in Entebbe, Uganda, July 1, 2025.

The animals are a crossbreed between the British Nubian goat and the Jianyang local goat breed.

According to the China News Agency Xinhua, this is the first time the Jianzhou big-eared goats have been exported outside China.

The goats were imported under the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation-China-Uganda South-South Cooperation Project, a tripartite initiative aimed at transferring agricultural technologies and best practices from China to Uganda.

The project focuses on crop production, aquaculture, and livestock improvement.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Industries (MAAIF) promotes various indigenous and exotic goat breeds.

Indigenous breeds include the: Mubende, Kigezi, Small East African, Karamoja, and Sebei goats.

Exotic breeds commonly found in Uganda are: the Boer, Savanna, Kalahari Red, Saanen and Anglo-Nubian.

According to sources at MAAIF, the Jianzhou big-eared goat has been identified as a key breed to help transform Uganda's goat farming sector.

Chinese expert herds  a Jianzhou big-eared goat into a pen at the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre & Data Bank (NAGRC&DB) in Entebbe on July 1.

Rose Ademun, the commissioner for animal health at MAAIF, said the Jianzhou big-eared goat is "a superior meat breed known for its rapid growth, high carcass yield, and adaptability to various agro-climatic conditions."

Ademun made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday at the NAGRC&DB where the imported goats are housed and will undergo a research and multiplication phase.

Beyond increasing meat output, the imported goats will also be used to crossbreed with local ones to improve productivity, ultimately raising farmers' incomes, Ademun.

Julius Twinamasiko, the head of the Ugandan side of the South-South Cooperation project, told Xinhua that Ugandan farmers and extension workers would acquire valuable skills in modern goat husbandry through the program.

"In the next few years, we will have multiplied these goats. They will be farmed across the country," he added.